John sturgeon



(No maar.) J; STURGBON.

APPARATUS FOB. GOOLXNG, DIRYING `ANI) PURIPYNG AIR.

PatentedAugaS, 1882.

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AUNITED STATES.

y PATENT OFFICE.

'JolinlsrUnGEom-on wEsrMInsTEn, A

A-s'srenon To .ionsr WiLnnnn nn` viLLEnoNr GALWEY `cousin( `or -iiHn DLEs1EX, ENGLAND, i

aan encuen* WILLIAM BANBRIDGE, on WARRINGTON, ENGLAND;

j APPARATUS Foa cooLlNeQnRYlNG, AND IDURIYINGAla-f` SPECIFICATION forming part of ALetters Patent No.v 263,620, dated August 29, 1882. j* i.

' A I Application ledpri119`,18S2. (No model.) Iatented in England l'Jeceinber 2l, IS-i, Noriflr. f Y

To all z vhom it muy concern :v Be it known that I, JOHN STURGEON, a subject of the Queen oi Great Britain, and a resident "of 3 Westminster Chambers, 'Victoriastreet; i-n the city of Westminster, in the county of Middlesex,- in that part'of thefUnited KingdomV of'GreatBritain and Ireland called England, engineer, have' invented certain new and useful' Improvements in Apparatus for (Jooling,Drying, and Purifying Air, (for which I have obtained Letters Patentfor Great Britain, No.`4,863, bearing date2lst December, 1877;) and the following is a full, clear, and

exact description otmy invention in such full,

clear,j and-exact l-terms as fto enable any one skilled infthe artt'o' whichit appertains orl is most-nearly connected to make' and use vthe l same, reference being had to the sheet of draw` ings annexed tov this specification, and to `tlie figures of reference marked thereon.

My invention hasrfor its'object improvements in4 and appertainin g to 'machi'ueryfand yapparatnsfo'r cooling, drying, and purifying `atmospheric air yforrefrigerating purposes,

y'smaller space, the samelquantity of heat that Itfi's well known thatl when a volume of air occupying ajcertai'n space at its normal temf peratnre and, pressure is compressed into a wasdistributed Vthrough its loriginal volume and forming its natural temperature bein g conf ccutrated into less space, the air mustshow a rise in temperature abovc'that ot' the surround- 1 ing atmosphere'. It' theheatithus generated by the compression of the air be absorbed and carried oi, so as tto reduce the airln` its compressed statetol the sametemperature as the4 surrounding atmosphere","or nearly so, and the Vcom pressedair thus cooled bemade to do Work and allowed to expand back` intofits original spaceorvolume, a considerable lowering of the temperature will result. ThisWell-known prinoipleis applied in all descriptions 0f maehihery for refrigerating by the compression,

cooling down, and expansion of atmospheric air, the compression fand expansion being`- generally effected by nieanszot' twoA cylinders- .-gether, so that 'the compressed air, while ex panding 1n the one 'cylinder,is returning a por- 5o -tion-of the power employed `in compressing it by assisting to drive the machine. Tocool the air while compressed-by extracting `the cou-Ai.` centrated heat, it has hitherto been the practice betorc passing the compressed air --into `and through the4 receiver and cooling-tank to inject water into the compressing-cylinderp vthus brlngling the 4"air and water into direct i contact, and, in fact, mixing them. The objecl tion to this plan is that the expanded cold'airo is charged with moisture7 which iilliitllyftrirms large quantities of .ice and snow, renderingthe cold air unt for-direct application for most refrigerating purposes. VHeat'is also ab, s'tracted from the compressed" air by surface-i` 65 contact with coldsurfacesfsuch asmotulpipesv and water-filled vessels. y f

My invention may be carriedout by-*us-ingf compression-cylinders with a pistonof'the .following construction :.I make the piston-hollow, 17o with openings carried entirely through itsfpef.A riphery petweeu the packing or piston rings. Into the hollow piston `I iix a pipe-turnedon the'outsideand long enough to, pass through a stufngQbox in the cylinder-cover. and into 75 a circulating pump-cylinder which is fixed out- I. side iti such a manner that at each stroke of the engine the pipe works'a singleacting ramw Vpump and forces thewater or itssublstitute Vthrough into the ,hollow piston and through 18o 'the openings. in its periphery and coming-into contact with the interior surface of thecyliu der', the-Water afterward escaping throughl anotherpipe, passing through the same or the` opposite cylinder-cover; 'or the-pipes may be 85 applied `as ram-pumpsatboth ends of the cyl#- inder.

i In lieu of asingle hollow piston, the same object may be attained by using a `duplex piston separated so ,as to form a chamber into 9o which the water can pass and at the same time be in contact with-little inside surface of the cylinder., The compressing"- cylinder is "surrounded with a water-jachet,`throug'h whicli'a constantcirculation of water lis maintai'ned."95 The water may be first admitted into the interior of the'compressing-cylinder between' the two pistons, being-the center ot' vthecylinder through an opening on the top and about the middle of the cylinder, and passing out through another opening or `openings into the water!y jaclret or elsewhere,such water in no case coming iu direct contact or mixing 'with the Vair in the top; or bottom of the cylinder..

lIn lieu of the pipes before referred to for su pplying the interior of the piston, thewate'r or its substitute may be takenv vin through the piston-rod, which is made hollow for the purpose. v

f Myinvention. may further be carried out by constructing the cylinder 'cove'rs and watercontaining piston of the compressing-cylinder `with concentric `projecting water-spaces, the y\'vater-space` sor projections on the piston fitting into the female 'i spaces formed by the concen tric Water-spaces or projections on the cylin` der-covers. y

In further carrying out my invention I may fix the ,compression and expansion cylinders horizontally, the. one behind the other,` and geared together "by continuation ofthe pistonrodfrom'one to the other. The cylinders are set upon an iron bed, forming at the same time the cooling-tank or, receiver for vthe air heated by compression. receiveris formed into compartments, the end compartments forming compressed-air chambers and. the center-compartment being the.

cooling-tank, whichis constructed witha numberlof tubes passingthrough it, connecting the lair-chambers, around which tubes a circulation-.of cold water is maintained, The receiv `ing air-chambers are divided so that the air when compressed into the one basto pass -*through one set of tubes to the other ailfcham- SLS ber,ret'uri |i n g through another set ofl tubes to the last chamber, or vice versa. The circulation ofthe kcompressedairs thusei'ected through the vcooling-tubes, and theheat generated by compressionl is thus further absorbed and carried cti'. Iheair, beingkept'from direct contact with the water'used -for cooling,- will be free from moisture, except that generally Icontained'in theatmosphere in the form of aqueous vapor. 'lh'ecombined action of compression and of the dischargeofheat fromthe air will tend to coudense this-aqueous vapor,.and when most of it is lthus; discharged .Itcarry it oi by means lof atrapar tra-ps app-liedto thelowest parts of the compressed-airchambers where this condensed moisture accumulates. The trap consists ofa -tuhe-hangingvertically downward and closed at the bottom by a valve weighted to open only when the pressure upon it' exceeds the proposed pressure in the air-chambers. lWhen sufficient water is collected in .the tube or trap toovercome by its additional weight the spring or otberwiseretained valve, the valve will-open and allow thewaterto runoutuntltheweight is -relieved sufficiently to allow the Valve to .close again. To get'ilrid of the remaining moisture in the'. air as far as possible,.I,apply in one or The cooling-tank or l more of thezcompressed-air chambers, by'prefverence the second rccev1ngchamber,a wirework cradle` or' equivalent contrivance` iilled plugs of carbon, which, besides .absorbing `any noxious particles, also absorbs the moisture from the air whl'e still under pressure, and consequently before such moisture can be pretank and through vthe absorbing apparatus in the air-chamber b ack to theotherair-chambers, from whichthe expanding-cylinder is supplied, and'from the expanding-'cylinder air isdischargedv to the refrigerator in a cold dry state. lBy these, means a continuous supply of pure c old air can be delivered in a stifliciently d'ry state and at' a temperature which speed of. the apparatus orlthe grade of expansion and the circulation of the water i'uthe cooling-tank. if 4 The construction ot' apparatus according to my invention will be understood to the drawings,-i n whichy Figure 1 re'presentsa sidel elevation of 'a refrigerating orcold-producing machine con` chambers in section. Fig. 2 is a'plan of 1. in g-tank'. Fig. `isa cross-section through one.

cross-section Iot' theend covers of the compression cylinder,fsl1owin g inlet and fdelivery v'alves.-`

A `is the"compressing-cylinder, into which or otherwise, through the pipe B, which has a valve attached at G ,for the admission of the external atmospheric air, which may be used when required. After compression in the cylpipe D to the chamber E, whew it meets the bathe-plate E',a which point much of the water contained iti fthe air will be discharged, and is drained oithrougli the pipeand trap 'the baie-platejglil'fiu la much drier state, and thence through'- the inner set of tubes G Gr to tank. Here it impinges on the bathe-plate H',

with carbon 51 or I use battle-plates; tubes, or

cipitated in' snow. or ice by the cold producedby. referencev of the end chambers. Eig. 5 is a longitudinal section, on an lenlarged scale, of the 'compresl sion and expansion cylinders. Fig. 6 is then passing through the tubes in the coolingcan be regulated atA will by regulating the v loo structed m accordance with my invention; 4showingthe cooling-tank and the two end y Fig. 3 isa cross-section through the co'olthe air passes from the refrigerating-chamber,

inder A-the compressed air passes through the .F, the air passing round tothe other side of the chamber H at lthe other end of the cooling L and any further water discharged is drained oi' bya trap, similar to that shown at F, placed thus further dried then passes to thel other side of 'the bathe-plate H', then through the Wirework cage I, filled with charcoalor othersuitable substance, which further absorbs the damp and abstracts deleterious particles fr om the air. The air now passes over 4the baffleplates H2 to the outer annular space of the chamber, meeting the baffle-plates H3 and the wire-gauze or perforated covering`H4, all ot' which assist in further drying the air, hich then passes through the outer 4range of 4pipes G' to the chamber E2, where it is received in a dried, purified, and cooled state through its treatment in the tank pipes and chambers, the pipes G G' being surrounded with cold water, and the surface-contact cooling the air in its passage through 'the pipes. From the cham bers E2 the air is admitted to' the expansion- -cylinderJ through the stop-valve J. 'Ihe air, i

' ai'ter performing'work in the expansion-cylinder J, passes through the exhaust-pipe, and the expanded air is led to the refrigerator in an intensely cold, dry, and pure state, the air circulating through `the refrigerator and back to the compressing-cylinders,.or otherwise.

rlhe cooling tank and chambers H may be provided with drain-tubes at all thelow points Where the moisture discharged from the com, pressed air is likely to collect. The chamber H is provided with a hinged door, K, to enable the' `wire-Work cage I to be readily removed and replaced when the carbon or other absorbing and purifying material with which y it. is filled requires renewal. The air-cylinders A and J are driven by means .ot' the steam-cylinders L L' through the crank-shaft M, the whole being mounted on and carried by the cooling-tank G2, as shown. A constant circulation of cold water throu gl the hollow piston 0V ot' the compression'cylin- ,der may be maintained -through the pipe P, the check'valve P', land the outlet-pipe P2. The water circulating through the hollow piston comes' in contact With the interior surface ot' the cylinder A through the openings p, and effects the necessary lubrication without coming into direct contact with the air, and. also serves to further cool the cylinder and air.

Fig. 7 `is a sectional elevation of a cylinder, showing another mode of internal cooling ot' the cylinder, and thereby the air under compression. In this example two pistons are used, fastened to one rod at sufficient distance apart toallow ofthe full piston travel without overrunning the openings 1), through which water is admitted into the space 0. The cooling-surface maybe further increased by ar-v ranging the piston andfcovcrs in the form tion, I claimshown by the dotted lines, 'or by corrugating y the piston and covers, as shown at Fig. 8. at the point marked X. The compressed air Having noww described my invention and shown how the same may be put into opera- 1.v The process of cooling, drying, and purifying atmospheric air for rcfrigerating purposes, which consists incompressing the air and lpassi'ng it while still Lunder vcompression through chambers provided with baffle-plates A and absorbents, in combination with a nest. of

pipes and a Water-tank and expanding theair' through an expansion-cylinder, Where it per forms Work, all substantially as described.

2. In the cooling, drying, and purifying of atmospheric air for refrigerating purposes by means4 of compression, surface-cooling, and, after expansion, the process ot' extracting the heatand moisture. by-` surface-cooled tubes1 bate-plates, and absorbents while the air is still under compression, substantially as described.

3. The combinatiom in a cold-airproducing lmachine, of acompressioncylinder with a cooling-tank having air-chambers provided with battle-plates and, moisture-absorbin g devices, such chambers being connected by a nest ot' pipes and one chamber communicating with the expansion-cylinder, all substantially as dc. scribed.

4. 'Ihe construction and arrangement of the co mpressing-cylinder vA, the coolingtank, and accessory parts G2, the expansioncylinder J,

`and the steam-cylinders L L', substantially as substantially asshown, and for the purposes specilied. l l

8. 'Ibe arrangementl and construction of cylinder and piston, consisting ot` corrngating theends of the cylinder and corrugating'the top and bottom ot' the water-piston, as herein described, drawings. n

In `witness whereof I, the said JOHN SQUR- GEON, have hereunto set my hand and seal this 25th day of March, 1882.

JOHN S'IURGEON.

Witnesses:

EBENEZ'ER ELLIOT, WILLIAM POLLARD,

Both of 14 Seaside Road, Eastbourne.

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and substantially as showninf the 

